System and method to assign action items using artificial intelligence

ABSTRACT

A system and method for dynamically assigning action items using Artificial Intelligence based on criterion. The criterion including resource availability, resource location, and/or resource skill(s). The system and method comprising: monitoring communications over one or more communication channels; analyzing the monitored communications to generate one or more user stories; processing the one or more generated user stories to identify one or more action items; scoring one or more resources based on assignment factors to determine a resource with a highest score; and assigning the one or more action items to the resource with the highest score. The system and method further comprising: tracking action items and automatically updating action item status. The system and method also include automatically re-assigning action items as needed.

FIELD

The disclosure relates generally to unified communications andparticularly to systems and method for action items using artificialintelligence.

BACKGROUND

Unified communications allow for the integration of enterprisecommunication services, such as instant messaging (chat), voice,conferencing (audio, video, web) desktop sharing, data sharing,voicemail, email, etc. to provide a consistent unified interface acrossmultiple devices and service. In organizations today, there is often theneed to collaborate with others and workers may interact with otherusers over multiple different channels. Some of these communications maybe related to the same topic. For example, a user may discuss a projectover email, in a phone conversation, and also during an in-personmeeting at the office.

Meeting management systems provide users with a way to capture,distribute, and archive meeting information, but may not be able tocapture information being communicated over multiple different channels.

The manual assignment and tracking of action items are time consumingand inefficient.

SUMMARY

These and other needs are addressed by the various embodiments andconfigurations of the present disclosure.

The present disclosure can provide a number of advantages depending onthe particular configuration.

The present disclosure provides a system and method for the life-cyclemanagement of actions items.

The present disclosure allows the status of action items to beautomatically updated, improving resource productivity.

The present disclosure uses historical and current data to improveplanning (e.g., course of action suggestions) for improved results andimproved decision making.

The present disclosure provides a holistic view of scattered actionitems recognized as a user story and assignment using preferences.

These and other advantages will be apparent from the disclosurecontained herein.

The phrases “at least one”, “one or more”, “or”, and “and/or” areopen-ended expressions that are both conjunctive and disjunctive inoperation. For example, each of the expressions “at least one of A, Band C”, “at least one of A, B, or C”, “one or more of A, B, and C”, “oneor more of A, B, or C”, “A, B, and/or C”, and “A, B, or C” means Aalone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and Ctogether, or A, B and C together.

The term “a” or “an” entity refers to one or more of that entity. Assuch, the terms “a” (or “an”), “one or more” and “at least one” can beused interchangeably herein. It is also to be noted that the terms“comprising”, “including”, and “having” can be used interchangeably.

The term “automatic” and variations thereof, as used herein, refers toany process or operation, which is typically continuous orsemi-continuous, done without material human input when the process oroperation is performed. However, a process or operation can beautomatic, even though performance of the process or operation usesmaterial or immaterial human input, if the input is received beforeperformance of the process or operation. Human input is deemed to bematerial if such input influences how the process or operation will beperformed. Human input that consents to the performance of the processor operation is not deemed to be “material”.

Aspects of the present disclosure may take the form of an entirelyhardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (includingfirmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodimentcombining software and hardware aspects that may all generally bereferred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Any combinationof one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computerreadable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computerreadable storage medium.

A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limitedto, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, orsemiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combinationof the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of thecomputer readable storage medium would include the following: anelectrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computerdiskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory(ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flashmemory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory(CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or anysuitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document,a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that cancontain or store a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium thatis not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device. Program codeembodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using anyappropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline,optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of theforegoing.

The terms “determine”, “calculate” and “compute,” and variationsthereof, as used herein, are used interchangeably and include any typeof methodology, process, mathematical operation or technique.

The term “means” as used herein shall be given its broadest possibleinterpretation in accordance with 35 U.S.C., Section 112(f) and/orSection 112, Paragraph 6. Accordingly, a claim incorporating the term“means” shall cover all structures, materials, or acts set forth herein,and all of the equivalents thereof. Further, the structures, materialsor acts and the equivalents thereof shall include all those described inthe summary, brief description of the drawings, detailed description,abstract, and claims themselves.

The preceding is a simplified summary to provide an understanding ofsome aspects of the disclosure. This summary is neither an extensive norexhaustive overview of the disclosure and its various embodiments. It isintended neither to identify key or critical elements of the disclosurenor to delineate the scope of the disclosure but to present selectedconcepts of the disclosure in a simplified form as an introduction tothe more detailed description presented below. As will be appreciated,other embodiments of the disclosure are possible utilizing, alone or incombination, one or more of the features set forth above or described indetail below. Also, while the disclosure is presented in terms ofexemplary embodiments, it should be appreciated that individual aspectsof the disclosure can be separately claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a first illustrative system 100 for amethod to assign action items using Artificial Intelligence (AI) basedon criterion in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIGS. 2A-B illustrate an example user interface for manually creatingaction items in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrate an example user interface for viewing action items inaccordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrate an example user interface for viewing action items inaccordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrate an example user interface for viewing action items inaccordance with the present disclosure

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of assigning action items using AI inaccordance in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a computing device for assigningaction items using AI in accordance with the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Currently a user may capture minutes of meetings and action items,however, there is no system that identifies relationships between actionitems. Furthermore, there is no system that processes communicationsover different communication channels (e.g., calls, chat, email,meetings, etc.) to identify action items. That is to say, relationshipsbetween action items are not considered to be part of a bigger task suchas a user story. The system and method disclosed herein monitorscommunications through different channels, such as p2p calls, IM chats,emails, and conferences (remote and/or in person), the communicationsare analyzed using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to identify user storiesfrom the monitored communications. In addition, one or more courses ofaction may be determined, and compared in order to determine the mostefficient course of action. In some embodiments, the action items aredetermined based on the selected course of action.

A system and method to analyze multiple communication channels (e.g.,calls, voicemails, emails, chats, conferences, etc.), and using AIidentifies user stories to be delivered and suggests one or moreprobable course of actions. The user stories can be broken down intotasks and/or action items, which can be assigned using a criterion, suchas expertise, co-location, availability, preferences, etc. The userstories and the generated action items may also be trackedautomatically. Throughout the duration of the selected course of action,the resources are evaluated to determine if re-assignment is necessary.For example, if a resource is assigned one or more actions items, andbefore completion of the assigned work items, the resource is predictedto become unavailable (e.g., worker requests time off), then the systemmay determine that the unfinished actions items should be re-assigned toan available resource.

In addition to the action items being identified from multiple differentcommunication channels, related action items are grouped and managed bya centralized system. The action items are categorized into groups basedon the similarities and relationships between them (e.g., stakeholder,assignee, required skills, etc.). One or more probable courses of actionfor successful completion of the action items may also be suggested.

The stakeholders of the action items are identified and involved in thecommunications with respect to the action items under consideration bythe system. The assignment of identified action items is managed by thesystem using machine learning algorithms. The system uses informationsuch as the past performance of the probable assignee with respect tosimilar action items, the delivery success ratio, co-location of theresources and time zones of the teams under consideration, area(s) ofinterest of the resources, the skill levels of the probable assigneeaccording to the requirement of the action items, time frame fordelivery, availability of resources, external factors (e.g., impact onmarket, time of year, market-share conditions, availability ofmaterials, budget, etc.).

Using this information, the system identifies the time required tocomplete an action item, the best assignee for the action item, andsuccessors to pass the action item on, if needed. With the probablecourse of action, the system identifies teams or personnel for each ofthe identified probable courses and predicts a time frame for eachprobable course to carry out the task. This determination may be basedon the task as a whole or broken down by individual action items thatmake up the overall task.

The identified action items and the chosen course of action (includingthe assigned resource) can then be tracked in a unified manner throughthe monitored communications. The status of the action item isautomatically maintained and updated based on the tracking.

In this disclosure a system and method for life-cycle management of anaction item is described. The action items are recognized in a unifiedmanner from multiple possible communication channels. The relevantaction items are grouped and managed by a centralized system. The actionitems will be categorized into groups based on the similarities found inthem and are appropriately distributed. Probable courses of actions mayalso be suggested for the successful completion of the action items.

For example, during a meeting (e.g., video conference), astakeholder/supervisor create one or more action items, as illustratedin FIGS. 2-3. The stakeholder/supervisor may assign each action item, orthe system may use AI to assign each action item. In some embodiments,some action items may be manually assigned, and others automaticallyassigned by the system. The system may evaluate criterion in assigningaction items. For example, the system may consider factors, such as butnot limited to, resource availability, co-location (of assigningsupervisor and/or other resources), skills/expertise required, etc.After the action item has been created and/or assigned, the system alsotracks ongoing communications to determine the status of each actionitem. For example, one or more of the action items may be referenced inan email, for example, the email subject is the project name, and/or thesender is the assigning supervisor. The system uses AI and/or machinelearning to track and monitor communications over multiple channels todetermine the status of each action item. Continuing the example, theemail chain may be related to additional action items for the project,the system may determine that additional actions items should becreated/assigned. The newly created action items may be assigned to thesame resource to ensure continuity of work. In another example, theemail may be a status inquiry from the supervisor, based on thecommunication, the system may determine that the action item needs to bere-assigned. The system automatically re-assigns the action items andmay notify all parties of the re-assignment. In another embodiment, thesystem may send a message to the supervisor user indicating thatre-assignment is suggested and ask the supervisor to approve/deny there-assignment. If the re-assignment is approved, the system updates theaction item and may automatically send a message to the resource thathas been assigned to and the resource that has been removed.

In an example in the healthcare sector, the system and method may beimplemented in a hospital or other medical environment. For example, apatient's condition is being monitored by the patient's multipledoctors. The various care providers may communication regarding thepatient's condition through calls, chats, email, etc. In someembodiments, the patient's doctors work in different departments (e.g.,oncology, internal medicine, cardiology, neurology, etc.) in the samehospital and communication using a unified communication system. Theservers for the various communications (e.g., call, email, chat, etc.)may sync with centralized server.

The system monitors information about the patient's condition over thevarious communication systems. For example, the patient may beidentified using a unique identifier. The system monitors communicationsand when the unique identifier is included in a communication, thecommunication is associated with the patient. The system may analyze thecommunication to determine if any action items should be generated.Additionally, the case may be discussed in at a conference.Additionally, the system may co-relate this patient's case with similarcases which have occurred in the past. Based on this information, thesystem may lay out a few probable courses of action and will break eachcourse of action down into action items which should be carried out inthe planned time frame to accomplish the respective course of action.The courses of action may be presented to the stakeholders (e.g.,doctors), and the stakeholders may select the course of action that isbest suited to the situation, additionally or alternatively, the systemmay determine the best course of action. The selected course of actionis broken down into action items and assigned to the appropriateresources. The action items may involve specialists required to performtests and surgeries. The system may allocate the action itemsautomatically based on area of expertise and availability. The scheduleof treatment and the procurement of the necessary equipment could beplanned by the system in advance as part of the action items to becarried out.

The system may track the subsequent communications (e.g., periodicmedical reports, test results, journal articles, etc.) between theinvolved stakeholders and owners of the action items and will update thestatus of the action items based on the communications. Additionally,the system may analyze and assess the progress of the chosen course ofaction and suggest necessary improvements to ensure the time frames,best care, etc. In this way, the doctors will not have to manuallydetermine and track action items; and also have the advantage of theability to process more data (historical and current) to help themprovide care to the patient.

In another example, the system may be utilized in the food industry. Forinstance, if a company wants to expand into different types of offeringsor different locations. The communications received from its customersin a contact center may serve as a feedback mechanism about which area(e.g., offerings, geographical locations, etc.) they should expand inand other improvements that can be implemented. In regard to determiningareas of expansion, the communications may be analyzed to identifiedcommunications related to the topic of expansion (e.g., keywords).Additionally, stakeholders (e.g., members of the management) may bediscusses expansion. In some embodiments, for collecting data from call,the system may either record the call or may use a speech to texttechnique and the text can be stored at respective server.

The information collected from the contact centers (e.g., customerfeedback) is processed with the information from the stakeholders todetermine probable areas of expansion in locations as well as fooditems. Based on the determined areas of expansion, various courses ofactions could then be laid out by the system. The system may use pastcase studies that have successfully achieved such expansion as onefactor in determining probable courses of action. The probable coursesof actions would then be broken down into action items and assigned tothe resources based on preferences. The action items may involveprocurement of new land, new ingredients, supply chain management of therespective areas and based on the identified action items, resources(e.g., action item owners) will be selected and assigned according todomain, location, availability, budget, etc. The actions items takenwith respect to the selected courses of actions will be tracked and thestatuses updated. In some embodiments, the tracking comprises continuedanalysis of subsequent communications.

In assigning and tracking action items, the system may determine a scorefor each resource. For example, taking the factors discussed above, eachfactor may be represented by f1 to fn. Further, each factor may have anassociated weight (w1 to win). The weights for each factor for eachresource may be based on their past performances and other factors. Thesystem may maintain a database in which the scores are maintained foreach of the probable assignee.

For example, the system identifies an action item to fix a customerescalation. The system additionally, identifies one or more probablecandidates for the identified action item: Alice, Bob, and Carl from theescalation team. The system calculates the score for each of theprobable assignees using the formula:

Score=Σ(w_i*f_i)

where i goes from 1 to n

Based on the equation, Alice, Bob and Carl's score for the particularassignment would be calculated. In this example, Alice's score based onher factors and their associated weight values would come out to be 550,Bob's score is 430, and Carl's score is 480. Therefore, in this example,Alice has highest score, and therefore, Alice would be assigned theaction item. However, each resource's score may change during theduration of the action item and/or task.

During the progress of the task, communications with Alice regarding theaction item(s) and/task/user story would be tracked by the system andher score would continuously be calculated to determine if Alice is ontrack with the task based on the completion of the action items (e.g.,sub-tasks) Alice finishes as part of the assignment. Based on the typeof feedback the system receives concerning the factors, the system willthen re-adjust the weights w1 to wn accordingly. For example, if Aliceor her supervisors compliment Alice on choosing the particulartechnology or method to solve an issue then the weight related to thefactor of her area of expertise would increase. Conversely, if Aliceapplies for a previously unplanned leave then the weight related to thefactor of her availability would decrease. The direct feedback of theconcerned participants of the conversation would also be used to alterthe weights. For example, if the project manager Richard does not likeAlice's assignment to the task, and he voices his concern in acommunication, then the likelihood of Alice getting assigned similartasks would decrease (e.g., the factor related to the preference of theaction item owner would decrease, causing her overall score for theparticular action item to decrease).

This feedback mechanism subsequent to the assignment of the action itemsadjusts the weights of the factors which are associated with theassignee in a reinforced machine learning algorithm so that the systemcan continuously learn and benefit from the decisions it has made in thepast. This way a system of matrices and factors which continuouslyre-adjust themselves based on the communications improves assignment tothe best possible resource.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a first illustrative system 100 forassigning action items using AI based on criterion. The firstillustrative system 100 comprises centralized action item server 101,unified communication system 110, messaging server 111, conferencingserver 112, communication server 113, and meeting server 114. Thecentralized action item server 101 includes user stories, action itemassignment, tracking and scoring, and AI/ML components.

Although not shown, the various servers illustrated in FIG. 1 maycommunicate over a network. The network can be or may include anycollection of communication equipment that can send and receiveelectronic communications, such as the Internet, a Wide Area Network(WAN), a Local Area Network (LAN), a Voice over IP Network (VoIP), thePublic Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a packet switched network, acircuit switched network, a cellular network, a combination of these,and the like. The network 110 can use a variety of electronic protocols,such as Ethernet, Internet Protocol (IP), Session Initiation Protocol(SIP), Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), video protocols,Instant Messaging (IM) protocols, text messaging protocols, and/or thelike. Thus, the network is an electronic communication networkconfigured to carry messages via packets and/or circuit switchedcommunications.

FIGS. 2A-B illustrate an example sequence of a user interface formanually generating action item(s).

As illustrated in FIG. 2A, in the first sequence 200, three users Amol,Sudhir, and Aonkar are shown in a conference. The moderator may want toassign action items to one or more of the participants. In someembodiments, only the moderator is allowed to assign action items. Inorder to assign an action item, the moderator may right-click on thename of the participant to be assigned the action item. For example, themoderator Sudhir may right-click on participant Amol and select addaction item 210 (sequence 202). This opens the dialog box 220 shown inthe sequence 204, which allows the moderator user to add/assign tasks toa participant user. The sequence is continued in FIG. 2B, after themoderator enters the tasks, he may hit “ok” (sequence 206). Afterparticipant Amol has been assigned one or more action items, aninformation icon 230 is displayed next to his name. Amol or otherparticipants may click on the information icon 230 to view the actionitems assigned to Amol (sequence 208), as illustrated in FIG. 3. When auser clicks on the information icon 230 (sequence 300), anotherscreen/popup 304 is display, which lists the action items assigned tothe participant (sequence 302).

FIG. 4 illustrates the user interface for the assignee. When theassignee clicks the information icon 230 the action items assigned tothe user are displayed along with meeting details. The display mayinclude the status for each action item (e.g., in progress, delayed,completed, etc.), as illustrated in FIG. 5.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of the conference service user interface,the next time the user logs in, the action items have been updated withtheir current status.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a process for assigning actionitems using AI

Modules are stored-program-controlled entities, such as a computer ormicroprocessor, which performs the method of FIGS. 2-5 and the processesdescribed herein by executing program instructions stored in a computerreadable storage medium, such as a memory (i.e., a computer memory, ahard disk, and/or the like). Although the methods described in FIGS. 2-5are shown in a specific order, one of skill in the art would recognizethat the steps in FIGS. 2-5 may be implemented in different ordersand/or be implemented in a multi-threaded environment. Moreover, varioussteps may be omitted or added based on implementation.

The process starts in step 600. In step 602, the system monitorscommunications, the communications may be received by a unifiedcommunication system from multiple communication channels (e.g., voice,chat, email, etc.). The communications are processed/analyzed togenerate user stories (step 602). The user stories may associate relatedaction items into a bigger picture (e.g., task, assignment, project,etc.). The system processes the user stories to identify action item(s)(step 606). This may include determining probable courses of action toaccomplish the task or project, which may be based on past scenarios.Once action items are identified, resources may be identified and scored(step 608). For example, the resources may be scored on factors, such asbut not limited to, availability, location, skills, etc. Additionally,the factors may be weighted, resource with more availability will have ahigher weight for the availability factor. The resource with the highestscore is assigned the action item (step 610). The system monitorsfurther communications related to assigned action items to track theaction items (step 612), which may include automatically updating thestatus of the action item. In step 616, if the action item is complete,the process ends at 620. If the action item is not complete (e.g.,pending, in process, delayed, etc.), the system continuouslyre-calculates scores for resources (step 616). In step 618, if thescores of the resource(s) change (yes), then the action item isre-assigned (step 610). If the scores of the resource(s) does not change(no), the system continues to track the action item (step 612).

The above discussion describes various systems and ways that informationmay be captured. One of skill in the art would recognize that system mayuse various combination of what is discussed above to assign actionitems using AI based on preferences.

FIG. 7 illustrates computing system 700 used to assigning action itemsusing AI based on preferences as described herein, according to oneimplementation. Computing system 700 is representative of any computingsystem or systems with which the various operational architectures,processes, scenarios, and sequences disclosed herein for assigningaction items.

Computing system 700 is an example of centralized action item server101, although other examples may exist. Computing system 700 comprisescommunication interface 701, user interface 702, and processing system703. Processing system 703 is linked to communication interface 701 anduser interface 702. Processing system 703 includes a microprocessorand/or processing circuitry 705 and storage system 706 that storesoperating software 707. Computing system 700 may include otherwell-known components such as a battery and enclosure that are not shownfor clarity. Computing system 700 may comprise a server, a user device,a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computing device, orsome other user communication apparatus.

Communication interface 701 comprises components that communicate overcommunication links, such as network cards, ports, radio frequency (RF),processing circuitry and software, or some other communication devices.Communication interface 701 may be configured to communicate overmetallic, wireless, or optical links. Communication interface 701 may beconfigured to use Time Division Multiplex (TDM), Internet Protocol (IP),Ethernet, optical networking, wireless protocols, communicationsignaling, or some other communication format—including combinationsthereof. In some implementations, communication interface 701 isconfigured to communicate with other end user devices, wherein thecommunication interface is used to identify and assign action items insystem 100.

User interface 702 comprises components that interact with a user toreceive user inputs and to present media and/or information. Userinterface 702 may include a speaker, microphone, buttons, lights,display screen, touch screen, touch pad, scroll wheel, communicationport, or some other user input/output apparatus—including combinationsthereof. User interface 702 may be omitted in some examples.

Processing circuitry 705 comprises a microprocessor and other circuitrythat retrieves and executes operating software 707 from storage system706. Storage system 706 may include volatile and nonvolatile, removableand non-removable media implemented in any method or technology forstorage of information, such as computer readable instructions, datastructures, program modules, or other data. Storage system 706 may beimplemented as a single storage device but may also be implementedacross multiple storage devices or sub-systems. Storage system 706 maycomprise additional elements, such as a controller to read operatingsoftware 707. Examples of storage media include random access memory,read only memory, magnetic disks, optical disks, and flash memory, aswell as any combination or variation thereof, or any other type ofstorage media. In some implementations, the storage media may be anon-transitory storage media. In some instances, at least a portion ofthe storage media may be transitory. It should be understood that in nocase is the storage media a propagated signal.

Processing circuitry 705 is typically mounted on a circuit board thatmay also hold storage system 706 and portions of communication interface701 and user interface 702. Operating software 707 comprises computerprograms, firmware, or some other form of machine-readable programinstructions. Operating software 707 includes monitoring module 710,user stories module 712, assignment module 714, and track and statusmodule 716, although any number of software modules within theapplication may provide the same operation. Operating software 707 mayfurther include an operating system, utilities, drivers, networkinterfaces, applications, or some other type of software. When executedby processing circuitry 705, operating software 707 directs processingsystem 703 to operate computing system 700 as described herein.

In at least one implementation, monitoring module 710, when read andexecuted by processing system 703, directs processing system 703 tomonitor communications over multiple communication channels inaccordance with the present disclosure. User stories module 712 whenread and executed by processing system 703, directs processing system703 to analyze the communications to generate user stories, which may beused to determine probable courses of action and/or action items.Assignment module 714, when read and executed by processing system 703,directs processing system 703 to score available resources and assignthe action item to the highest scoring resource. Track and status module716, when read and executed by processing system 703, directs processingsystem 703 to track actions items by monitoring further communicationsrelated to the action item, and update the status of the action itembased on the further communications. The track and status module 716,when read and executed by processing system 703, may direct processingsystem 703 re-assign an action item as necessary.

In one embodiment, a method for dynamically assigning action items usingArtificial Intelligence, the method comprising: monitoringcommunications over one or more communication channels; analyzing themonitored communications to generate one or more user stories;processing the one or more generated user stories to identify one ormore action items; scoring one or more resources based on assignmentfactors to determine a resource with a highest score; and assigning theone or more action items to the resource with the highest score.

Aspects of the embodiment include: monitoring further communicationsover the one or more communication channels; tracking the one or moreaction items; and updating a status associated with each action item.

Aspects of the embodiment include: re-scoring the one or more resourcesbased on the assignment factors to determine if scores associated withthe one or more resources has changed; and in response to the scoresassociated with the one or more resources changing, re-assigning the oneor more action items.

Aspects of the embodiment include: the assignment criterion includes atleast one of: resource location, resource availability, one or morerequired skills, and/or stakeholder preference.

Aspects of the embodiment include: the one or more communicationchannels include: voice calls, video calls, email, instant messaging,chat, text messaging, and/or meeting minutes.

Aspects of the embodiment include: analyzing the monitoredcommunications to generate the one or more user stories comprisesdetecting one or more keywords in the monitored communications.

Aspects of the embodiment include: analyzing the monitoredcommunications to generate the one or more user stories comprisesgrouping related action items.

In another embodiment, a system comprising: a microprocessor; and acomputer readable medium, coupled with the microprocessor and comprisingmicroprocessor readable and executable instructions that cause themicroprocessor to: monitor communications over one or more communicationchannels; analyze the monitored communications to generate one or moreuser stories; process the one or more generated user stories to identifyone or more action items; score one or more resources based onassignment factors to determine a resource with a highest score; andassign the one or more action items to the resource with the highestscore.

Aspects of the embodiment include: instructions to monitor furthercommunications over the one or more communication channels; track theone or more action items; and update a status associated with eachaction item.

Aspects of the embodiment include: instructions to re-score the one ormore resources based on the assignment factors to determine if scoresassociated with the one or more resources has changed; and in responseto the scores associated with the one or more resources changing,re-assign the one or more action items.

Aspects of the embodiment include: assignment criterion includes atleast one of: resource location, resource availability, one or morerequired skills, and/or stakeholder preference.

Aspects of the embodiment include: the one or more communicationchannels include: voice calls, video calls, email, instant messaging,chat, text messaging, and/or meeting minutes.

Aspects of the embodiment include: instructions to detect one or morekeywords in the monitored communications.

Aspects of the embodiment include: instructions to group related actionitems.

Another embodiment includes a non-transitory computer readable mediumhaving stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a processor,perform a method comprising: monitoring communications over one or morecommunication channels; analyzing the monitored communications togenerate one or more user stories; processing the one or more generateduser stories to identify one or more action items; scoring one or moreresources based on assignment factors to determine a resource with ahighest score; and assigning the one or more action items to theresource with the highest score.

Aspects of the embodiment include: monitoring further communicationsover the one or more communication channels; tracking the one or moreaction items; and updating a status associated with each action item.

Aspects of the embodiment include: re-scoring the one or more resourcesbased on the assignment factors to determine if scores associated withthe one or more resources has changed; and in response to the scoresassociated with the one or more resources changing, re-assigning the oneor more action items.

Aspects of the embodiment include: the assignment criterion includes atleast one of: resource location, resource availability, one or morerequired skills, and/or stakeholder preference.

Aspects of the embodiment include: the one or more communicationchannels include: voice calls, video calls, email, instant messaging,chat, text messaging, and/or meeting minutes.

Aspects of the embodiment include: analyzing the monitoredcommunications to generate the one or more user stories furthercomprises detecting one or more keywords in the monitoredcommunications.

It should also be appreciated that the methods described above may beperformed by hardware components or may be embodied in sequences ofmachine-executable instructions, which may be used to cause a machine,such as a general-purpose or special-purpose processor (GPU or CPU) orlogic circuits programmed with the instructions to perform the methods(FPGA). These machine-executable instructions may be stored on one ormore machine readable mediums, such as CD-ROMs or other type of opticaldisks, floppy diskettes, ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic oroptical cards, flash memory, or other types of machine-readable mediumssuitable for storing electronic instructions. Alternatively, the methodsmay be performed by a combination of hardware and software.

Specific details were given in the description to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the embodiments. However, it will be understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments may be practicedwithout these specific details. For example, circuits may be shown inblock diagrams in order not to obscure the embodiments in unnecessarydetail. In other instances, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms,structures, and techniques may be shown without unnecessary detail inorder to avoid obscuring the embodiments.

Also, it is noted that the embodiments were described as a process whichis depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a data flow diagram, astructure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describethe operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can beperformed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of theoperations may be re-arranged. A process is terminated when itsoperations are completed but could have additional steps not included inthe figure. A process may correspond to a method, a function, aprocedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process correspondsto a function, its termination corresponds to a return of the functionto the calling function or the main function.

Furthermore, embodiments may be implemented by hardware, software,firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or anycombination thereof. When implemented in software, firmware, middlewareor microcode, the program code or code segments to perform the necessarytasks may be stored in a machine-readable medium such as storage medium.A processor(s) may perform the necessary tasks. A code segment mayrepresent a procedure, a function, a subprogram, a program, a routine, asubroutine, a module, a software package, a class, or any combination ofinstructions, data structures, or program statements. A code segment maybe coupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passingand/or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters, or memorycontents. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed,forwarded, or transmitted via any suitable means including memorysharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, etc.

While illustrative embodiments of the disclosure have been described indetail herein, it is to be understood that the inventive concepts may beotherwise variously embodied and employed, and that the appended claimsare intended to be construed to include such variations, except aslimited by the prior art.

Examples of the processors as described herein may include, but are notlimited to, at least one of Qualcomm® Snapdragon® 800 and 801, Qualcomm®Snapdragon® 610 and 615 with 4G LTE Integration and 64-bit computing,Apple® A7 processor with 64-bit architecture, Apple® M7 motioncoprocessors, Samsung® Exynos® series, the Intel® Core™ family ofprocessors, the Intel® Xeon® family of processors, the Intel® Atom™family of processors, the Intel Itanium® family of processors, Intel®Core® i5-4670K and i7-4770K 22 nm Haswell, Intel® Core® i5-3570K 22 nmIvy Bridge, the AMD® FX™ family of processors, AMD® FX-4300, FX-6300,and FX-8350 32 nm Vishera, AMD® Kaveri processors, Texas Instruments®Jacinto C6000™ automotive infotainment processors, Texas Instruments®OMAP™ automotive-grade mobile processors, ARM® Cortex™-M processors,ARM® Cortex-A and ARIV1926EJ-S™ processors, other industry-equivalentprocessors, and may perform computational functions using any known orfuture-developed standard, instruction set, libraries, and/orarchitecture.

Any of the steps, functions, and operations discussed herein can beperformed continuously and automatically.

However, to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present disclosure, thepreceding description omits a number of known structures and devices.This omission is not to be construed as a limitation of the scope of theclaimed disclosure. Specific details are set forth to provide anunderstanding of the present disclosure. It should however beappreciated that the present disclosure may be practiced in a variety ofways beyond the specific detail set forth herein.

Furthermore, while the exemplary embodiments illustrated herein show thevarious components of the system collocated, certain components of thesystem can be located remotely, at distant portions of a distributednetwork, such as a LAN and/or the Internet, or within a dedicatedsystem. Thus, it should be appreciated, that the components of thesystem can be combined in to one or more devices or collocated on aparticular node of a distributed network, such as an analog and/ordigital telecommunications network, a packet-switch network, or acircuit-switched network. It will be appreciated from the precedingdescription, and for reasons of computational efficiency, that thecomponents of the system can be arranged at any location within adistributed network of components without affecting the operation of thesystem. For example, the various components can be located in a switchsuch as a PBX and media server, gateway, in one or more communicationsdevices, at one or more users' premises, or some combination thereof.Similarly, one or more functional portions of the system could bedistributed between a telecommunications device(s) and an associatedcomputing device.

Furthermore, it should be appreciated that the various links connectingthe elements can be wired or wireless links, or any combination thereof,or any other known or later developed element(s) that is capable ofsupplying and/or communicating data to and from the connected elements.These wired or wireless links can also be secure links and may becapable of communicating encrypted information. Transmission media usedas links, for example, can be any suitable carrier for electricalsignals, including coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, and maytake the form of acoustic or light waves, such as those generated duringradio-wave and infra-red data communications.

Also, while the flowcharts have been discussed and illustrated inrelation to a particular sequence of events, it should be appreciatedthat changes, additions, and omissions to this sequence can occurwithout materially affecting the operation of the disclosure.

A number of variations and modifications of the disclosure can be used.It would be possible to provide for some features of the disclosurewithout providing others.

In yet another embodiment, the systems and methods of this disclosurecan be implemented in conjunction with a special purpose computer, aprogrammed microprocessor or microcontroller and peripheral integratedcircuit element(s), an ASIC or other integrated circuit, a digitalsignal processor, a hard-wired electronic or logic circuit such asdiscrete element circuit, a programmable logic device or gate array suchas PLD, PLA, FPGA, PAL, special purpose computer, any comparable means,or the like. In general, any device(s) or means capable of implementingthe methodology illustrated herein can be used to implement the variousaspects of this disclosure. Exemplary hardware that can be used for thepresent disclosure includes computers, handheld devices, telephones(e.g., cellular, Internet enabled, digital, analog, hybrids, andothers), and other hardware known in the art. Some of these devicesinclude processors (e.g., a single or multiple microprocessors), memory,nonvolatile storage, input devices, and output devices. Furthermore,alternative software implementations including, but not limited to,distributed processing or component/object distributed processing,parallel processing, or virtual machine processing can also beconstructed to implement the methods described herein.

In yet another embodiment, the disclosed methods may be readilyimplemented in conjunction with software using object or object-orientedsoftware development environments that provide portable source code thatcan be used on a variety of computer or workstation platforms.Alternatively, the disclosed system may be implemented partially orfully in hardware using standard logic circuits or VLSI design. Whethersoftware or hardware is used to implement the systems in accordance withthis disclosure is dependent on the speed and/or efficiency requirementsof the system, the particular function, and the particular software orhardware systems or microprocessor or microcomputer systems beingutilized.

In yet another embodiment, the disclosed methods may be partiallyimplemented in software that can be stored on a storage medium, executedon programmed general-purpose computer with the cooperation of acontroller and memory, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, orthe like. In these instances, the systems and methods of this disclosurecan be implemented as program embedded on personal computer such as anapplet, JAVA® or CGI script, as a resource residing on a server orcomputer workstation, as a routine embedded in a dedicated measurementsystem, system component, or the like. The system can also beimplemented by physically incorporating the system and/or method into asoftware and/or hardware system.

Although the present disclosure describes components and functionsimplemented in the embodiments with reference to particular standardsand protocols, the disclosure is not limited to such standards andprotocols. Other similar standards and protocols not mentioned hereinare in existence and are considered to be included in the presentdisclosure. Moreover, the standards and protocols mentioned herein, andother similar standards and protocols not mentioned herein areperiodically superseded by faster or more effective equivalents havingessentially the same functions. Such replacement standards and protocolshaving the same functions are considered equivalents included in thepresent disclosure.

The present disclosure, in various embodiments, configurations, andaspects, includes components, methods, processes, systems and/orapparatus substantially as depicted and described herein, includingvarious embodiments, subcombinations, and subsets thereof. Those ofskill in the art will understand how to make and use the systems andmethods disclosed herein after understanding the present disclosure. Thepresent disclosure, in various embodiments, configurations, and aspects,includes providing devices and processes in the absence of items notdepicted and/or described herein or in various embodiments,configurations, or aspects hereof, including in the absence of suchitems as may have been used in previous devices or processes, e.g., forimproving performance, achieving ease and\or reducing cost ofimplementation.

The foregoing discussion of the disclosure has been presented forpurposes of illustration and description. The foregoing is not intendedto limit the disclosure to the form or forms disclosed herein. In theforegoing Detailed Description for example, various features of thedisclosure are grouped together in one or more embodiments,configurations, or aspects for the purpose of streamlining thedisclosure. The features of the embodiments, configurations, or aspectsof the disclosure may be combined in alternate embodiments,configurations, or aspects other than those discussed above. This methodof disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention thatthe claimed disclosure requires more features than are expressly recitedin each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventiveaspects lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosedembodiment, configuration, or aspect. Thus, the following claims arehereby incorporated into this Detailed Description, with each claimstanding on its own as a separate preferred embodiment of thedisclosure.

Moreover, though the description of the disclosure has includeddescription of one or more embodiments, configurations, or aspects andcertain variations and modifications, other variations, combinations,and modifications are within the scope of the disclosure, e.g., as maybe within the skill and knowledge of those in the art, afterunderstanding the present disclosure. It is intended to obtain rightswhich include alternative embodiments, configurations, or aspects to theextent permitted, including alternate, interchangeable and/or equivalentstructures, functions, ranges or steps to those claimed, whether or notsuch alternate, interchangeable and/or equivalent structures, functions,ranges or steps are disclosed herein, and without intending to publiclydedicate any patentable subject matter.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for dynamically assigning action itemsusing Artificial Intelligence, the method comprising: monitoringcommunications over one or more communication channels; analyzing themonitored communications to generate one or more user stories;processing the one or more generated user stories to identify one ormore action items; scoring one or more resources based on assignmentfactors to determine a resource with a highest score; and assigning theone or more action items to the resource with the highest score.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: monitoring further communicationsover the one or more communication channels; tracking the one or moreaction items; and updating a status associated with each action item. 3.The method of claim 1, further comprising: re-scoring the one or moreresources based on the assignment factors to determine if scoresassociated with the one or more resources has changed; and in responseto the scores associated with the one or more resources changing,re-assigning the one or more action items.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the assignment criterion includes at least one of: resourcelocation, resource availability, one or more required skills, and/orstakeholder preference.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one ormore communication channels include: voice calls, video calls, email,instant messaging, chat, text messaging, and/or meeting minutes.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein analyzing the monitored communications togenerate the one or more user stories comprises detecting one or morekeywords in the monitored communications.
 7. The method of claim 1,wherein analyzing the monitored communications to generate the one ormore user stories comprises grouping related action items.
 8. A systemcomprising: a microprocessor; and a computer readable medium, coupledwith the microprocessor and comprising microprocessor readable andexecutable instructions that cause the microprocessor to: monitorcommunications over one or more communication channels; analyze themonitored communications to generate one or more user stories; processthe one or more generated user stories to identify one or more actionitems; score one or more resources based on assignment factors todetermine a resource with a highest score; and assign the one or moreaction items to the resource with the highest score.
 9. The system ofclaim 8, wherein the executable instructions further cause themicroprocessor to: monitor further communications over the one or morecommunication channels; track the one or more action items; and update astatus associated with each action item.
 10. The system of claim 8,wherein the executable instructions further cause the microprocessor to:re-score the one or more resources based on the assignment factors todetermine if scores associated with the one or more resources haschanged; and in response to the scores associated with the one or moreresources changing, re-assign the one or more action items.
 11. Thesystem of claim 8, wherein the assignment criterion includes at leastone of: resource location, resource availability, one or more requiredskills, and/or stakeholder preference.
 12. The system of claim 8,wherein the one or more communication channels include: voice calls,video calls, email, instant messaging, chat, text messaging, and/ormeeting minutes.
 13. The system of claim 8, wherein the executableinstructions cause the microprocessor to detect one or more keywords inthe monitored communications.
 14. The system of claim 8, wherein theexecutable instructions further cause the microprocessor to grouprelated action items.
 15. A non-transitory computer readable mediumhaving stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a processor,perform a method comprising: monitoring communications over one or morecommunication channels; analyzing the monitored communications togenerate one or more user stories; processing the one or more generateduser stories to identify one or more action items; scoring one or moreresources based on assignment factors to determine a resource with ahighest score; and assigning the one or more action items to theresource with the highest score.
 16. The computer readable medium ofclaim 15, wherein the instructions when executed by a processor, performthe method further comprising: monitoring further communications overthe one or more communication channels; tracking the one or more actionitems; and updating a status associated with each action item.
 17. Thecomputer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions whenexecuted by a processor, perform the method further comprising:re-scoring the one or more resources based on the assignment factors todetermine if scores associated with the one or more resources haschanged; and in response to the scores associated with the one or moreresources changing, re-assigning the one or more action items.
 18. Thecomputer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the assignment criterionincludes at least one of: resource location, resource availability, oneor more required skills, and/or stakeholder preference.
 19. The computerreadable medium of claim 15, wherein the one or more communicationchannels include: voice calls, video calls, email, instant messaging,chat, text messaging, and/or meeting minutes.
 20. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 15, wherein analyzing the monitoredcommunications to generate the one or more user stories furthercomprises detecting one or more keywords in the monitoredcommunications.